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U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara escalated his criticism of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to shutter the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, which had only just begun. “It was disbanded before its time,” he said on WNYC's "Brian Lehrer Show." “Nine months may be the proper and natural gestational period for a child, but in our experience it is not the amount of time necessary for a public corruption prosecution to mature.” Bharara's office had a truck pick up documents from the commission yesterday, files full of "unseemly" information on elected officials. Bharara went on to stress the importance of independence in an investigative body, and said if there was interference into the commission's probes, it should be taken very seriously. Cuomo defended his actions, saying the commission was never meant to be a permanent body and that it produced tangible positive results. It was created after a rash of arrests of state lawmakers, brought on by Bharara's office.

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